Life

Organ Donor Races to Raise Awareness

A life-saving organ donation inspires one Singapore athlete who will compete at the IRONMAN 70.3 Putrajaya.

By Emma Bishop

Singapore’s Kenny Ng is participating at IRONMAN 70.3 Putrajaya to raise awareness for organ donation. Next month marks the nine year anniversary since Ng made the sacrifice for his father to undergo a life-saving liver transplant.

His father was diagnosed with hepatitis B in early 2000 and, two years later, his liver started to fail and he was diagnosed with liver cancer. Chemotherapy followed, but it did not work and the doctors declared his only hope for survival was a liver transplant.

Ng was just about to get married when this news struck. After rigorous tests and interviews he was declared a perfect match and had no hesitation taking on the tricky surgery to donate his liver for the life saving operation. All went well and, nine years on, Ng’s liver has regenerated to its normal size. But it didn’t stop there.

"Since the operation I have tried to bring awareness through sports and spread the message that, in fact, I did not loose anything at all."

Ng believes that he gained much more from his selfless act.

"The pain I went through was temporary, just like an IRONMAN. Pain is temporary, the memories are forever and my father is now happy and healthy and surrounded by grandchildren. No one can put a price on that."

Recovery, even for a healthy individual after such an operation, is a long process and it was almost a year before Ng was able to return to his normal long runs and swims. Today he continues his mission to educate, but also to have fun doing what he loves most.

"This is my first IRONMAN 70.3 race. My teammates and I are egging each other on. We may not be the best, but we will try our best for sure. The gift of saving a life is unique. It is definitely not something everyone can do, but I think the key to unlocking the doubts and concerns around organ donation is to help people understand it is not something to shy away from, but can become a life-changing moment, not just for the recipient, but also yourself personally."

Fellow countrymen will surround Ng when he starts his race on Sunday, with 272 Singaporeans in the field for IRONMAN 70.3 Putrajaya.